Inertial and pressure sensors can be very sensitive to stresses and strains, interpreting the stresses/strains as signals when, in fact, they are not. These errors are often seen over temperature because the strain state of the system, to which the sensors are mounted, changes with expansion and contraction, due to temperature change. Other sources of strain change are also significant enough to have a negative effect on sensors, such as creep under stress or pressure. Changes in output over temperature must be modeled and subtracted from a sensor's output where accuracy is required. Larger strains from a given temperature change are harder to model accurately and may require more computing power and higher-order models. Any relaxation (creep) of the materials due to these strains cannot be modeled and shows up as sensor error.
Mechanical isolators are often used between the sensor and the system to which the sensor is mounted to allow for the strains to be taken up by the isolator rather than passing them on to the sensor. The isolator does this by having a mechanically elastic section between the sensor mount and the system, like a set of springs that always comes back to the same state after being stretched. Isolation features are easy to form in certain materials, such as silicon, but sensors are often made of other materials and the bond between the sensor and isolator creates unwanted stresses.